First Sunday in Advent (2022)

It's that time of the year again. When the end is near, we still have the craze of the holidays yet before us. The rush, the insanity, the frenzied cacophony. The world dives in ... but the Christian church pauses. This is a holy time. This is a time of reflection and preparation. Today, the First Sunday of Advent. The Sunday of Hope.

I think today is the Sunday when the church would look back into history to see the predictions, what was written in the Jewish books that foretell His coming? In the midst of their agony and difficult lives under the authority of the Romans, they had hope. We, today, are caught up in anger and hatred, with war and struggle we are surrounded by. Were the ancient Jewish people caught up in similar? They were in poverty. There was sickness and oppression. It was not a good life, and it would put our struggles today to shame. But ... they had hope. They believed someone was going to come and bring redemption to them. Do we have hope? not like them. In fact, I'd say that there is very little hope today. We feel helpless and, thus, we also tend toward hopelessness. 

Do you have hope in your soul? Do you believe that something good is coming? I'll be honest - there are many times I do not feel that. I used to be an optimistic person. In spite of anything, I believed that good things were still on the road ahead. Today ... I'm often not so sure. The Jewish people had their prophets who wrote of promises and their coming Messiah. They were filled with hope. Anticipation. Excitement. But today? Our prophets talk of doom, of the bad things to come, of fear. Theirs talked about the character of the person who was to come; ours talk of the anguish of the events ahead. Theirs wrote of salvation, of power, of compassion and truth, of knowledge and understanding, of counsel and wisdom. Ours? war and plague, destruction of the earth, poverty and starvation, failure of character. Yet, their lives were so much worse than ours. 

I think it is important to pause and to be reminded of the hope, the real hope for what is to come. What is with us now. Christ will come to us, His character is available for us today, tomorrow. In the middle of all the mess we are surrounded by, of the antagonism and hurt, I think it should be about trust. Maybe not so much in the people we have in our lives, but trust in Jesus. That His character is about depth and commitment, His character is consistent, God incarnate. His love is not a fabrication or for this moment, but for all of time. Regardless of where you've come or the things you've done. In all the brokenness and hurt and weaknesses, in all the 'human-ness', Jesus loves YOU. All of you. What a gift! He will never withdraw, he will never change. And it has nothing to do with what is happening to us, because He is for us. He will make us something more than what we are, He will redeem and forgive ... because of Who he is. He is Hope, personified. His power and humility are beyond anything we are capable of, but something we desire to emulate. What a world we would live in if we all made that our quest! To become like Him. 

"You are quite right in thinking that for Christians the emphasis is not primarily on teaching but on the Person of Christ. That does not mean the teaching is unimportant, but it is important because of Who he is, and not the other way around." (D.L. Sayers) We are taken out of bondage and into truth; because of He who is our Hope. In that, I place my trust. If the world was to crumble around me, I want to still live as Christ demonstrated. In my small way, let me be hope for others, in a time when they have no hope. Let me be as much like Him as I can, in all my broken humanity. Isn't that what this time is all about? 

Emmanuel. Christ is with us. Now, and forever. Amen.